Though Iran has thus far remained in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the US decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal could be the first domino to fall, setting off a chain of escalatory events throughout the region. 

“This change is US policy is happening at a time when the region is really combustible,” said Zalmay Khalilzad, president of Gryphon Partners and an Atlantic Council board director. Ultimately, the regional impact of US President Donald J. Trump’s May 8 decision to withdraw from the JCPOA will depend on Tehran, and what it decides to do next: play nice on the world stage, or retaliate in its own backyard.  

Read the entire event recap over at the New Atlanticist.

Image: Iranian women in Tehran on May 11 protested US President Donald J. Trump’s decision to walk out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. (Reuters/Tasnim News Agency)